Traditional pistol holsters worn on the hip or shoulder present serious difficulties to certain military and police personnel as well as hunters-woodsmen. The most obvious difficulty inherent in the holster worn in the hip-thigh region is its impediment to running. Anyone observing a policeman running after a criminal suspect has noticed the officer gripping his pistol holster with one hand and attempting to steady it against the thigh during the pursuit of the criminal. Running under these conditions is very difficult because of the uncoordinated movements of the leg and the holstered weapon. To a somewhat lesser degree, the weapon carried beneath the arm and in the rib area in a shoulder holster also tends to be subject to uncontrolled movement during running. Also, the weight of a weapon carried in the traditional position pulls the muscle and bone structure of the body out of balance and alignment so that carrying a weapon for extended periods becomes fatiguing and uncomfortable.
Both traditional types of pistol holders become extremely uncomfortable, and can in fact inflict serious injuries on the wearer, as where the wearer falls to the ground and lands on the holster or must crawl or roll on the ground. This latter type of activity is required frequently of military special forces, or commandos, police S.W.A.T. teams and the like.
Furthermore, the possibility of the conventionally holstered weapon discharging during extremely strenuous activity by the wearer and inflicting a serious or mortal injury is also present.
The present invention, therefore, has for its objective to overcome the above and other recognized drawbacks present in traditional pistol holsters by providing a holster whose physical construction and location on the body of the wearer, and the materials from which the holster is made depart radically from the prior art, with the result that a much more comfortable, secure and safer arrangement results, with a greatly lessened likelihood of injury to the wearer during the most strenuous activities, such as running, leaping, climbing and crawling.
A major objective and advantage realized with the present invention is to make use of the anatomical center of gravity of the wearer of the pistol holster and the center of gravity and balance of the holstered weapon itself. More particularly, it is an established fact that the region of the human body which is subject to the least degree of movement during a variety of physical activities is that region where the anatomical center of gravity is located. The present invention takes advantage of this phenomenon by locating the holstered weapon in a plane passing through the anatomical center of gravity. The holstered weapon is also located within the natural recess defined by the small of the back, which contributes greatly to comfort and safety when the wearer of the holstered weapon is forced to lie on the back as during crawling and rolling activities required of military special forces and similar personnel.
The invention also takes advantage in a unique way of the center of gravity of the holstered weapon and its line of balance through its center of gravity. The center of gravity of the holstered weapon is uniquely correlated with the anatomical center of gravity and the placement of the holstered weapon in the natural curved recess adjacent to the small of the back to provide a most stable and safe mounting for the holstered weapon on the body, with greatly reduced relative movement between the holstered weapon and the body of the wearer during running and other physical activity. The improved holster in accordance with the present invention is rendered further efficient through the provision of an adjustable snug-fitting padded support belt which is disposed in a horizontal plane intersecting the centers of gravity of the wearer and of the holstered weapon.
An objective of the invention is to provide an improved pistol holster of the character described which can accept various types of weapons including the newest U.S. military pistol, the 0.44 Magnum revolver, and the 9 mm Uzi assault pistol. In accordance with the present invention, each of the above weapons is held in a holster with the axis of its barrel arranged at a particular angle of inclination relative to the horizontal plane through the anatomical center of gravity, which is the plane occupied by the holster support belt. This angle of inclination will vary for each type of weapon and is determined by its balance axis through the center of gravity of the holstered weapon.
Further objects of the invention are to provide a holster which provides easy access to the weapon, a holster which is practical and relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and a holster constructed from durable materials which promote comfort and safety while fully protecting the weapon from the elements, such materials representing a drastic departure from leather, the most commonly used material in the prior art.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the following detailed description.